Evaluation of qualitative and quantitative techniques in decision-making: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper represents a brief overview on the evaluation of qualitative and quantitative techniques in decision-making. The purpose of this study was to examine the status and extent to which administrators and engineers of Bangladesh apply qualitative and quantitative techniques of management in planning, directing, reporting and controlling activities for enhancing their administrative and operational decision-making capability. The study was directed to the top and operative organizational levels in two categories of administrators (executive and operative) to determine the types of managerial techniques used, degrees of familiarity with these techniques, frequency of use, managerial benefits and constraints, and individual and organizational factors involved in using such techniques. The qualitative and quantitative techniques were selected from diverse sources of related literature. The study followed guidelines of exploratory and descriptive research. Data were analyzed using statistics (mean and aggregated score) to describe administrator’s decision-making capability in terms of extent of utilization of the selected techniques. Based upon this study’s findings, practical implications are discussed. Limitations and suggestions also are made for future research into this topic.